vCD service fails to start for numerous reasons, if you understand what exactly it requires to start the vCD service then you may resolve the issues. I tried explaining what happens when you start the vCloud director services. Below is the workflow that I understood from my experience

To know more about OSGI you may refer wiki article here. What we need to understand is, OSGI is a Container or Folder which has its own sub/internal components. OSGI should be completely up and running for vCloud to properly function.

Verifying IP/FDQN:

Check if the RHEL cell is configured with proper FQDN and make sure point to a valid DNS address. This is the initial requirement, 2 IPs, one for vCloud HTTP traffic and 2nd one for console proxy, of-course it wouldn’t allow you to install vCloud director application if you do not have 2 nics / ips. There may be chances that NIC might have removed by mistake

Certificate:

SSL certificate is a crucial requirement for vCloud director since it is a enterprise application and it is used largely by public service providers. The customers / clients / end-user should be confident that their connectivity is secured and encrypted so that a intruder cannot access the packets.Check if the certificates are valid and updated. you may run the below command in the vCloud director server (RHEL / Centos with vCloud Installed).

Make sure all the below components are properly synced with NTP server.

vCenter Server

vShield Manager

All vCloud Cells

vCloud DB

DB Connectivity Issues:

vCD stores all its information in the database, the main reason behind this is clustering and load balancing. you can have more than one vCloud director cell for load balancing and faster access. So if you have more than one vCloud cell then all the cells must have proper connectivity to the Database. At present vCD support Oracle and MSSQL, check the vmware interop matrix for supported versions.Verify the vCD cell can communicate with DB server, may be try a basic test.To know the configured DB for vCloud, you may check in the global.properties file, there are lot of information in global.properties but we need only the database properties, you may run below command

After you get the DB FQDN /IP, perform telnet with respective port to check the connectivity

#telnet <DB_SERVER> 1433 (MSSQL)

#telnet <DB_SERVER> 1521 (Oracle)

Sometimes vCD can connect to the DB server but it is not enough, the user must have DB_Owner privileges to the vCloud Database. if there is permission issue for the DB user, the OSGI container may start but you cannot access the vCloud UI, it shows a blank grey screen. To find such errors, you can verify cell.log for detailed information.

Reviewing vCloud cell.log

Sometimes the vCD services are fully started but you may see a blank/black screen in the vCD GUI, the first place to look vCD startup issue is

$VCLOUD_HOME/logs/cell.log.

Below is an example of a fully started cell.log file so you can use it to compare. This log re-writes every time the application restart, you may use this as reference.

I started working with vCloud director from its initial release (vCloud 1.0) and I was thinking to write an article about the vCloud director troubleshooting for very long time but finally vCloud director(vCD) is going to die oops..I.e it is getting better and better , have a look at below articles

still it’s not late to write, as per the VMware KB2057589 support for vCD 5.5 is available till Q3 2017 and vCD 5.1 till Sep 2014.

What is in this post ?

Troubleshooting , resolving vCloud director issues are complex and tricky, there are no straight forward method to resolve those issues (For Ex:Go ahead just “Restart the service”, “Reboot the server” won’t work with vCloud director) . It needs more patience and calm approach. To understand the behavior, it is important to understand all the components / services in the vCloud. I tried explaining my way of approach, below are the topics I covered which I feel it is essential to read.

vCD & its components

You must understand what is vCloud director, what it can do, how it can be used to implement IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) , there are numerous blog-post and references explaining what is vCloud director (vCD), some of them which I think it is important to read are listed below.

I hope the above links will make clear about vCD, I would like to cover troubleshooting part of vCD, simply I listed the software components that makes vCD which is required for troubleshooting.

Components:

These are the collective software components which makes vCloud

vCloud director

vCloud Networking and Security (Formerly vShield Manager)

vCenter Server

ESX(i)

vCenter Chargeback manager (optional)

vCD Cell Architecture:

To begin with vCD troubleshooting, one must understand its Architecture and components. I have summarized the component architecture and how it is connected.

Readers should keep this architecture diagram in mind. To approach an issue in vCD, for example if you are not able to view the vCloud director UI, it should strike that JAVA OSGI should be completely UP and running to access the UI, likewise the below diagram explains the internal connectivity and its relationship.

I have listed only the required components for troubleshooting, to know more about the vCD architechture review the below VMware KB.

vCloud Director Maximums 1.5 / 5.1 / 5.5

When I troubleshoot issues, multiple customers inquired about vCloud director maximums, usually I refer them KB and Documents. I just decided to do comparision of both vCloud versions and post it here, I believe it should be useful for others and especially me for my own reference.

Please note that you cannot achieve the maximums in all categories at the same time, so make sure to understand how the limits apply to your use cases.